
Julie Bindel's podcasts and writing
Feminism: not the fun kind juliebindel.substack.com
Latest episodes

Dec 19, 2023 • 1h 11min
A fascinating conversation with Kenneth Zucker
Kenneth Zucker during his time at the GICDr Ken Zucker has an impressive CV. The editor of the prestigious journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, he took a leading role helping devise diagnostic and treatment guidelines for gender dysphoric individuals, and headed the group which developed the DSM-5’s criteria for its “gender dysphoria” entry.Zucker also helped write the “standards of care” guidelines for the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, which is a textbook relied upon by clinicians who treat gender-dysphoric patients and those presenting as transgender.Why, then, was he sacked from GIC (part of The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in 2015, and eventually awarded a massive payout following a case he took against his former employer? I visited Zucker at his home in Toronto to find out, and to talk about whether his views on gender had changed since he has been hit with a whole heap of slurs and accusations of ‘transphobia’ and bigotry. Have a listen and find out the whole story, straight from Zucker. “CAMH apologizes without reservation to Dr. Zucker for the flaws in the process that led to errors in the report not being discovered and has entered into a settlement with Dr. Zucker that includes a financial payment to him.”The apology, abridged This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit juliebindel.substack.com/subscribe

Nov 3, 2023 • 42min
Toxic: Women, Fame and The Noughties
Britney Spears in 2007Paris Hilton with activist Caroline Cole at a press conference outside the US Capitol Building on April 27, 2023 in Washington, DC. Cole a survivor of abuse while a teenager in a congregate care facility, joined lawmakers to introduce the bill "Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act" Chyna, September 28, 2000 at the World Wrestling Federation in New York CityJanet Jackson during MTV VMA 2000 Stage at Radio City Music Hall in New York City This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit juliebindel.substack.com/subscribe

Oct 17, 2023 • 40min
The art of misogyny
Explore the experiences of a second wave feminist driven out of her job due to her views on single-sex spaces. Delve into the label and marginalization faced by gender critical feminists. Discuss strategic alliances and concerns about bigotry, as well as the struggle against misogyny and the denial of women's experiences.

Oct 11, 2023 • 52min
I survived a serial killer
Mo Lea, senior lecturer in Art and former course leader at Masters degree The Long Shadow, written by George Kay, and based on Michael Bilton’s book Wicked Beyond Belief, is a seven-part ITV drama based on the police hunt for a sadistic necrophiliac who terrorised women in the north of England throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. With the consultation and blessing of the families of his victims, the drama lays bare the violent misogyny and prejudicial policing that came to characterise the hunt for the so-called Yorkshire Ripper. I talk to Mo about how she survived a near-fatal attack by Sutcliffe in 1980. Mo Lea was an art student in the city when she became a target for the serial killer, Peter Sutcliffe.Mo, who had moved to Leeds from Liverpool, was out with friends in a pub in the Chapeltown area of the city, planning her 21st birthday.It was October 25, 1980, and the friends went their separate ways just after 10pm, as Mo decided to walk through the university campus to catch the bus. A man approached behind her, hit the back of her head with a hammer and attacked with a screwdriver. Her life was saved by a passing couple who heard her screams.She was assaulted so violently that her parents failed to recognise her in the hospital, her jaw broken, her face bloodied and bruised.At the time, Sutcliffe had murdered 12 women and left another seven for dead. Several months later, while recuperating at home in Liverpool, she recognised Sutcliffe on the TV as the man that attacked her. 'When you have had trauma like that, it gives you an edge,' she told me. 'If you've been close to death, you feel you've been granted this freedom to live. It has compelled me to be successful in my career.'Mo’s book:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Facing-Yorkshire-Ripper-Art-Survival/dp/1526777576Her website: https://www.molea.art/Peter Sutcliffe, drawn by Mo Lea This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit juliebindel.substack.com/subscribe

Oct 7, 2023 • 33min
Celebrating the life and work of Jalna Hanmer
Jalna Hanmer at the International Tribunal on Crimes against Women, March 4–8, 1976 in Brussels. The event was created with the intention to "make public the full range of crimes, both violently brutal and subtly discriminatory, committed against women of all cultures." This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit juliebindel.substack.com/subscribe

Oct 1, 2023 • 33min
Persecuted for believing in biology.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit juliebindel.substack.com/subscribe

Sep 30, 2023 • 33min
The nurse at risk of losing her license for believing in biological sex
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit juliebindel.substack.com/subscribe

Sep 24, 2023 • 43min
"I was born a boy but raised as a girl"
Sophie OttowayIN 1986, Sophie Ottaway was born with a very rare condition which required immediate surgery.Cloacal exstrophy happens when the organs in the abdomen do not form correctly in the womb, resulting in babies born with organs such as the bladder or intestines outside the body.Doctors had to operate to save her life.Sophie was actually a boy, with a tiny, damaged penis but healthy testes.But doctors advised Sophie’s parents that their baby’s male genitalia should be removed to avoid further complications.The baby had to be registered by the following day, which meant they had to decide whether to tick male or female on the form.Sophie’s parents Karen and John followed the surgeons’ advice.In this episode we talk about her life, how she discovered the truth. We also discuss puberty blockers, gender ideology, and how to keep kids safe from unnecessary medical interventions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit juliebindel.substack.com/subscribe

Sep 18, 2023 • 29min
"Russell Brand is a misogynist!" I talk with Rosie Duffield about the latest scandal involving abusive men
Rosie DuffieldWe talk the mess of the Labour Party; feminism and male violence; men being plonkers generally; and the dudebros on the Left (as opposed to the sexist trad men on the Right). Oh, and we mentioned the Russell Brand scandal:An unnamed misogynist somewhere or other This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit juliebindel.substack.com/subscribe

Sep 1, 2023 • 46min
Sex Matters: A conversation with Maya Forstater
Maya Forstater (middle) and colleagues at the launch of the #RespectMySex campaign, 2022Since 2004, when trans activists first came after me, I and many others had fantasised about what it would be like to engage with them under the normal rules of public debate. The whole LGBTQQIA2Spirit+ Rainbow Community has been drip fed no debate by Stonewall for years, and I used to dream of a scenario where a group of us, five on each side, had been locked in a building and, becoming bored with the lack of Netflix or booze we ended up having the argument. It would be filmed of course, and subsequently leaked to the world. This kept me going during the bleak years where few spoke out about the danger of trans identified men invading single sex spaces. But suddenly, despite the odds, this wish came true, thanks to Maya challenging this crazy ideology in court.The debate, much to the chagrin of the blue fringe brigade, was aired during a three-week employment tribunal during which the Emperor appeared buck naked, his lady dick waving for all to see. Even the cute pink and blue trans flag could not cover his humiliation. In October 2018 Maya Forstater was employed as a consultant by the US-based non-profit Centre for Global Development (CGD). Some staff in the Washington DC office raised internal concerns about a number of her tweets, which they claimed were “transphobic.” An internal investigation followed, and weeks later, her contract as a consultant at CGD was ended, and subsequently, an offer to continue as a visiting fellow was withdrawn. Maya decided to sue CGD on the grounds of discrimination under the Equality Act 2010, but in November 2019, the Employment Tribunal ruled against her. They held that her “absolutist” beliefs, that trans women are NOT actual, literal women, and that sex and gender identity are not the same, are “not worthy of respect in a democratic society.”She appealed the judgement, and in June 2021 the decision was published. Maya had won and would be able to continue with a discrimination claim. A fresh tribunal was convened which was tasked with the job of deciding whether Maya’s behaviour in the office amount to harassment of, or discrimination against, trans people, and whether she herself was discriminated against on the grounds of her beliefs. The rest is history. And earlier this year, Maya was awarded over £100.000 in compensation. Too bloody right. Here she is. Enjoy the chat. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit juliebindel.substack.com/subscribe